History of the European Computer Driving Licence

The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) began as a project which set out to define the computer skills required by the ordinary citizen to take advantage of the new end user technology. The project started in 1995 and since that time ECDL has become the leading digital literacy certification in the world with almost 10 million candidates enrolled in the programme. The core ECDL consists of seven modules, defined by a syllabus which is agreed by an international panel of users and experts and certifies that the holder has the competencies required to perform basic tasks using a personal computer, can use a computer in practice and understands the basic concepts of information technology [1]. This paper describes the creation of the ECDL, together with the unique organizational structure which enabled the wide implementation of ECDL, initially in Europe and later throughout the world as the International Computer Driving License (ICDL).